The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for advertising products and services on a support structure. More particularly, this invention pertains to a system and method for mounting sheet material containing advertisements on support structures, such as trucks, buildings, and billboards.
Systems and methods for mounting sheet material containing advertisements on support structures, such as trucks, buildings, and billboards, are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,082, issued to Richards et al. on Aug. 21, 2001 and entitled xe2x80x9cMounting for Sheet Material,xe2x80x9d U.S. Pat. No. 6,250,002, issued to Wittenberg on Jun. 26, 2001 and entitled xe2x80x9cVisually Symmetric Removable Low Protrusion Tensioned Sign Display System,xe2x80x9d and U.S. Pat. No. 6,041,535, issued to Holloway et al. on Mar. 28, 2000 and entitled xe2x80x9cFlexible Sign Retention and Tensioning Frame Assembly,xe2x80x9d teach various types of systems and methods for mounting sheet material containing advertisements on support structures. All of these patents, however, teach the use of sheet material having a beaded portion defined along the top, bottom, and sides of the sheet material, and frame members that include a partially open cylindrical element for receiving the beaded portions of the sheet material.
To mount the sheet material to the frame members, the beaded portions must be slide into the partially open cylindrical elements of the frame members. This process is time-consuming and costly, and makes the use of the systems and methods described in these patents less desirable for users who need to install or remove sheet material very quickly. Accordingly, there is a need for a quicker way to connect the sheet material to the support structure.
Furthermore, the systems and methods described in the ""082 and the ""535 patents also require the use of special tools to adjust the tension in the sheet material once it is mounted on the support structure. These special tools increase the cost of these systems and make it difficult, if not impossible, to adjust the tension in the sheet material when the tools are not available. This requirement, not surprisingly, makes these systems even more undesirable to some users. Thus, there is a need for a way of adjusting tension in the sheet material without using a special tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,305,111, issued to Opdahl on Oct. 23, 2001 and entitled xe2x80x9cAdvertising Display System,xe2x80x9d U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,649, issued to Palmeri on Jan. 2, 2001 and entitled xe2x80x9cInformation Display System for the Sides of Buildings and Vehicles,xe2x80x9d U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,099, issued to Favata on Nov. 11, 1997 and entitled xe2x80x9cTrailer Sign Frame,xe2x80x9d U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,772, issued to Pardue on Sep. 27, 1994 and entitled xe2x80x9cFlexible Frame Mobile Display,xe2x80x9d U.S. Pat. No. 5,239,765, issued to Opdahl on Aug. 31, 1993 and entitled xe2x80x9cAdvertising Display,xe2x80x9d and U.S. Pat. No. 4,922,988, issued to Loomis on May 8, 1990 and entitled xe2x80x9cTension Mounting System and Assembly,xe2x80x9d also teach systems and methods for mounting sheet material containing advertisements to support structures, such as trucks, buildings, and billboards. The systems and methods described in these patents require the use of sheet material having a sleeve defined along the border of the sheet material and a support, which is either slide into or stitched into the sleeve.
As was the case with the ""082, ""002, and ""535 patents above, the process of sliding the support into the sleeve is time-consuming and costly, and makes the use of the systems and methods described in these patents less desirable for users who need to install or remove sheet material very quickly. In addition, the use of sleeves increases the amount of, and the associated cost of, material used for a given piece of sheet materialxe2x80x94a fact that also makes these systems undesirable. As a result, there is need for not only a quicker way to connect the sheet material to the support structure in these systems, but also a way to reduce the amount of material used for a given piece of sheet material.
Finally, while other systems and methods for mounting sheet material containing advertisements on support structures are known in the art, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,209,245, issued to Wittenberg on Apr. 3, 2001 and entitled xe2x80x9cSign Display Attachment System,xe2x80x9d U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,227, issued to Johansson et al. on Apr. 13, 1999 and entitled xe2x80x9cFabric Sign With Tensioning Means,xe2x80x9d U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,166, issued to Verret on Sep. 23, 1997 and entitled xe2x80x9cCasing for Sign,xe2x80x9d U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,354, issued to Daviau, et al. on Sep. 9, 1997 and entitled xe2x80x9cWall and Vehicle Graphic Assemblies,xe2x80x9d U.S. Pat. No. 5,657,566, issued to Key on Aug. 19, 1997 and entitled xe2x80x9cRapid Mount Advertising Panels,xe2x80x9d U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,109, issued to Rinzler on Apr. 16, 1996 and entitled xe2x80x9cMobile Advertising Display,xe2x80x9d and U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,546, issued to Kovalak, Jr. on Nov. 21, 1995 and entitled xe2x80x9cTensioned Fabric Sign,xe2x80x9d all of these known systems and methods are substantially different from the systems and methods described above and, accordingly, do not address or solve the disadvantages of the prior art discussed above.
What is needed, then, is a system and method for mounting sheet material containing advertisements on support structures, such as trucks, buildings, and billboards, that includes a method of connecting the sheet material to the support structure more quickly, that does not require a special tool to adjust the tension in the sheet material, and that reduces the amount of material needed for a given piece of sheet material.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide a system and method of connecting the sheet material to support structures more quickly than existing prior art sliding systems,
Another object is to provide a system and method that does not require a special tool in order to adjust the tension in the sheet material.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method that reduces the amount of material needed for a given piece of sheet material.
These and other objects, which will become apparent to someone practicing the present invention, are satisfied by the system and method of the present invention. The system includes an upper frame mounted on an upper portion of a support structure, such as a truck, building, or billboard, three adjustable frame assemblies mounted on left, right and lower portions of the support structure below the upper frame, and sheet material having upper, right, left, and lower sheet tabs that are inserted into the upper frame and the adjustable frame assemblies. The adjustable frame assemblies can be adjusted to vary the tension in the sheet material between the upper frame and the adjustable frame assemblies. The method includes the steps of inserting the sheet tabs into the upper frame and the adjustable frame assemblies, and adjusting the adjustable frame assemblies so that the sheet material is pulled taut between the upper frame and the adjustable frame assemblies.